1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a baseball pitcher game and training apparatus and more particularly to such an apparatus in which a player throws a ball at a target positioned within an elongate enclosure, A scanned X-Y sensing matrix of conductive rows and columns in the target detects the position of the ball as it strikes the target. A radar gun detects the passage of the thrown ball through a zone and provides a readout of ball speed, A game methodology awards points for speed and throwing accuracy,
2. Description of the Related Art
A number of prior art attempts have been made to create a baseball pitcher's target which provides meaningful feedback to the pitcher regarding pitching accuracy, Some of these prior art devices have included a game methodology or a scoring system designed to award points for accuracy,
One such prior art-device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,141 to Garcia, in which a number of target zones on a pitcher's target each include a mechanical switch which closes an associated electrical circuit if struck by a thrown ball. Additional, smaller plunger-type switches in a strike zone area are used for a game with various points or "hits", "doubles", "triples", etc. awarded for striking these targets in a game. Accompanying audio and visual indications are also provided. U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,369 to Poitras is directed to a similar baseball pitching target with zoned switches, indicator lights and pitch counters. U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,873 teaches yet another zoned target area, but uses individual piezo-electric impact detectors in each target zone to detect ball impact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,729 to Yancey is directed to a pitcher's target with an array of zones, each with an electrical switch closed upon ball impact. An array of lights arranged on three sides of the target provides an indication of the zone struck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,181 to Parish is directed to a practice pitching apparatus in which a strike area and a ball area are included in a target. The strike area is indented relative to the ball area and each includes an electrical switch pair to indicate and totalize balls and strikes. Visual indicators and automatic reset circuitry are provided as well.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,423 to Wright is directed to a pitcher's target including a resilient, energy absorbing free hanging screen with a target printed thereon. Balls striking the screen fall into a trough positioned below the screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,194 to Bixler et al. is directed to a pitcher's target which includes a central target opening surrounded by adjacent hinged trapezoidal "wings". If a thrown ball hits the central opening, no indication is given, but if one of the trapezoidal wings is hit, it pivots to cause an electrical contact to close, giving a visual indication of "high", "low", "inside" or "outside"
While each of the above-listed patents uses a relatively simple electrical contact to indicate impact and impact zone, a number of more sophisticated targets and position, speed or force sensors have been developed as well.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,527 to Park is directed to a photo-electric projectile speed sensing arrangement for a projectile such as a thrown baseball. A crossed matrix of photo-electric sensors, and associated beams arranged in a target box detects the entry of the projectile into the box. A piezo-electric planar transducer positioned a set distance behind the photo-sensor array detects an impact of the projectile. A computer calculates the time between entry and arrival at the planar transducer to calculate the speed. The planar transducer can be divided into different target areas or zones.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,090 to Kustanovitch is directed to a force sensing target which includes a plurality of overlying layers. Some of the layers are continuously electrically conductive, such as metallized sheets, some are selectively conductive, to indicate target zones, and the remainder are dielectric. When a projectile strikes the target, a sensor detects a change in a first capacitance variable due to deformation of the dielectric layers and a processor computes a force value dependent thereon. Changes in another capacitance variable are used to determine the zone of impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,005 to Hand et al. is directed to a baseball position sensing apparatus in which a pair of infrared emitter and sensor arrays are positioned on either side of a target area. The emitters are scanned, with each, in sequence, emitting a short optical pulse signal. The sensors detect the optical pulses and generate a digital word based upon the received pulses. When a baseball enters the target area, some of the scanned optical pulses will not be received by respective sensors, and a computer calculates the baseball position based upon this digital word. By positioning two such emitter-sensor arrays on each side of the target area, the velocity of the baseball can be calculated based upon elapsed transit time of the ball between arrays.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,250 to Newland et al. is directed to a pitching practice apparatus including a crossed grid of optical emitters and photodetectors which determine ball location. A speed gun determines ball speed and a spring loaded ball return panel, positioned behind the photodetector grid, absorbs the impact of the thrown balls and returns them to the thrower via a ball return trough.
Each of these systems represents a relatively complex technique for detecting ball position, force and/or velocity. Optical detection systems, such as those of Hand et al. and Park, are particularly susceptible to erroneous readings due to dust particles, insects,, or other extraneous material breaking or partially breaking the optical beams. They are also subject to frequent failure and require considerable maintenance due to burn-out of emitters. Furthermore, optical sensing systems are particularly prone to giving false readouts since light from one emitter can reflect off of the ball or other projectile and impinge on an unrelated photosensor. Thus, ghost images are sensed and it is virtually impossible to determine which position is real. Capacitance based systems, such as that of Kustanovitch, are less prone to failure, but are also subject to erroneous readouts due to extraneous electrical signals including static electricity. Furthermore, the system of Kustanovitch, with it's continuous electrical conductors, is capable of giving only gross approximations of impact position and force.
It is clear then, that a need still exists for a reliable baseball pitcher's game and training apparatus which is extremely rugged and durable, requires minimal maintenance, yet is sophisticated enough to allow the use of programmed game methodologies. Such an apparatus should be compact enough to be positioned in amusement arcades without taking up a large amount of floor space. The apparatus should reliably detect both the exact position of impact and the speed of a thrown baseball, should be designed to absorb the shock of impact of a ball striking a target without rebounding toward the thrower and without damaging the target, and should be capable of both audio and visual feedback including computerized scoring. For more sophisticated applications, the apparatus should be capable of detecting the direction and magnitude of spin of a thrown ball.